Brighton and Hove Albion FA Cup Quarter-Final (A) 29/03/25

Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Nottingham Forest

Forest win 4-3 on penalties 

2-0 win at home against Luton in round 3. A trip to Exeter that saw us win 4-2 on penalties. -Ipswich defeated at the City Ground 5-4 on penalties. In the quarter-finals Forest had a trip to the south coast. One more win and we would be playing under the arch. One more win and we would visit the home of English football. One more win and this team would’ve achieved something no other could in 34 years.

Brighton progressed from their last 2 quarter-final ties in the tournament, but have never gone on to lift the trophy; back in 1992/93, they were runners-up to Manchester United. As for Forest, they have won the FA Cup twice. However, they have lost all of their last 3 quarter-finals in this competition by a 1-0 scoreline. Their last semi-final was back in 1991/92 where they progressed to the final, only to lose to Tottenham. In the earlier meeting at the AMEX in the league, the result ended 2-2 in a fiery encounter. At the City Ground, the Reds won 7-0, embarrassing the Seagulls but since then, Brighton have not lost a game. Could revenge be on the cards?

The game started relatively end to end but it was the visitors with the first chance of the game. Ola Aina had the ball on the right and drifted inside looking to play a through ball down that side of the box. The pass deflected into the path of Taiwo Awoniyi who took on the shot from a tight angle. Verbruggen got down well to stop the effort with his outstretched leg.  Forest started to dominate the game, creating most of their chances from corners. They had most of the possession and although they are not used to it, Nuno’s side looked comfortable. It was Brighton with the next big chance of the evening. From 35 yards out, Pervis Estupinan unleashed an ambitious strike on goal. It bounced just in front of Matz Sels, making it an awkward save for the ‘keeper, but he got down well to parry it away. Brighton were beginning to grow into the game and nearly had something to show for it. Mitoma had possession to the left of the box. He attempted a low cross which was blocked by Aina and cleared by Elliot Anderson only as far as Carlos Beleba, 25 yards out. He let the ball bounce before firing his effort just wide of the right post.

Brighton started the second half the brighter of the two sides. The hosts had a corner which was cleared out to Ayari on the left. He found Georginio Rutter who took a lovely touch before turning towards the byline and took on a shot from a tight angle which sailed just over the crossbar. Gibbs-White was next to have an adventurous effort. Neco Williams laid the ball off to him 25 yards from goal but his effort was tipped over by a strong hand from Verbruggen.

Up the other end, Estupinan whipped in a corner from the right which was met by an unmarked Hinshelwood who generated too much power on his header to see it bounce past the left post. He should have done better there. Anthony Elanga crossed a free kick from the right only to be punched away by Verbruggen. Anderson recycled the ball, passing back to Ryan Yates on the penalty spot. He went down appealing for a penalty, but the hosts cleared. The clearance hit Anderson on the edge of the area who chased after it and turned Estupinan on the byline. He then turned Mitoma who then slid in, his elbow taking Anderson’s leg from underneath him. The referee took his time before giving a penalty. VAR took their time checking it before sending Peter Bankes to the monitor where he overturned his original decision. Neither side had a real chance to seal the game late on so we were heading to extra time.

During the first 15 minutes of extra time, neither side looked like they wanted to lose so the game was being played in a conservative manner. In the final 15 as Forest showed signs of fatigue, Brighton went for it. Simon Adingra crossed the ball in from the right looking for the unmarked Gomez but he couldn’t connect with the ball properly. Just moments later, Adingra had the ball out on the right again. He played a through ball to Gruda who got there before Williams and looped a ball back into the danger area. Once again, Gomez was unmarked and let his header fly towards goal. It looked to be dipping under the crossbar but Sels got a brilliant hand to it to tip it behind. Forest were going into rash tackles and giving the Seagulls free-kick opportunities but they couldn’t take advantage. With just 2 minutes to go, the hosts did have the ball in the back of the net but the linesman was quick to put his flag up. Nerves were creeping in for both sides as neither wanted to concede late, but the referee blew the fulltime whistle and it was heading to penalties for the third game in row for Forest.

Up first was substitute Joao Pedro who fired his penalty into the left side netting. First for Forest was Elliot Anderson who scored in the 2 previous rounds. Once again he scored, rolling it into the bottom right corner. Gruda sent Sels the wrong way and rolled his penalty into the bottom left corner. Callum Hudson-Odoi nonchalantly thundered into the top left corner. Youngster Hinshelwood looked to find the bottom right corner, but Sels got down for the first save of the shootout. Neco Williams had a chance to give Forest a real advantage, but he blazed his penalty over the crossbar. To his rescue was his goalkeeper who didn’t dive to save Gomez’s spot kick. Nikola Milenkovic was next up for the Reds calmly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. Brighton had to score and that’s was what Lewis Dunk did going bottom right. To send his boyhood team to Wembley was Mr Forest, Ryan Yates. The man who has been at the club since age 8. His effort went through the arms of Verbruggen and into the bottom left corner to send the away end into chaos.

Que sera sera. We’re going to Wembley again. We are facing Man City but we have beat them before so we can do it again. Either way it will make for a great day out. I liked Nuno’s tactics from the beginning, and we were frustrating Brighton. As time went on, we bought our wingers on which worked well but we just couldn’t find the cutting edge. In extra time you could see the fatigue starting to creep in and we were becoming a bit chaotic, but we stayed resilient to take it to penalties. It wouldn’t have needed to go all that way if the referee stood by his original decision which is a clear penalty as Elliot gets his foot taken out from underneath him, but we got to win on penalties; the best way. All the penalties were yet again well taken (apart from Neco’s) but I did think it was a strange decision to take Gibbs-White off however I’ve learnt to not question Nuno. I’m glad it was Yatesy who took the decisive penalty and I’m so happy for him. We are now the first team to win 3 penalty shootouts in a single season in the FA Cup. Everyone was exceptional but I want to praise Taiwo. I think Woody may be out for a little while but he looked sharp and like he can step up if he turns his shots into goals. Onto Tuesday now for another big game in our bid for Champions League football. COYR!

Brighton and Hove Albion: Verbruggen; Estupinan, Webster (Dunk 91'), van Hecke, Hinshelwood; Ayari (Gomez 81'), Baleba; Mitoma (Adingra 71'), Rutter (Gruda 75'), Minteh; Welbeck (Joao Pedro 71')

Forest: Sels; Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Anderson, Dominguez (Jota Silva 96'), Yates, Danilo (Hudson-Odoi 61'); Gibbs-White (Morato 119'); Awoniyi (Elanga 61')